Lancia Delta

The Lancia Delta was announced in October 1979 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and won the 1980 Car Of The Year award.

The Giugiaro styling further continued his "origami" look, and as a result it bears a strong similarity to a five-door VW Golf Mk1.

Unusually there was not a three-door model, they all came with five-doors.

The 1498cc model shared the engine with the Fiat Strada 85 but in slightly higher compression form.

Between 1980 and 1982 the Delta was also sold in Sweden, Finland and Norway as the Saab 600. This small scale joint venture paved the way for the later Fiat-Lancia-Alfa-Saab "Type Four" project.

The Delta is most famous for the Integrale high performance four wheel drive variant, built for World Rallying.

Magazine road tests and mentions

CAR Magazine, September 1976

CAR Magazine, September 1976

Oracle

Lancia's new 1300cc Fulvia saloon for 1977 has caused so much controversy within the company that former MD Gobatto left. His place has been taken by Ing Sguazzini. Ital Design's Giugiaro styled the new car

What Car? September 1979

What Car? September 1979

News

This is what Lancia's new small car will look like. Called the Delta it features running gear from the Fiat Strada clothed in a new Ital Design hatchback body.

CAR Magazine, November 1979

CAR Magazine, November 1979

Scoop! Delta - Lancia's pearl for the austerity '80s

Ian Fraser on an oh-so-civilised and quite delectable newcomer from Italy that brings a touch of class to the small-car market

CAR Magazine, September 1980

CAR Magazine, September 1980

Giant Test

Talbot Horizon 1.5 SX v Lancia Delta v Volvo 345DL

CCC Magazine, June 1982

ccc-june-1982

Lancia Delta Turbo 4x4

It's all go behind the scenes in northern Italy's automobile playground

Car Magazine, August 1982

No Magazine Cover Yet

Giant Test

Volvo 345GL v Lancia Delta v Honda Quintet

CAR Magazine, March 1983

CAR Magazine, March 1983

Lancia pump fresh (Fiat) life into the Delta with a speedy GT, plus new 1.3 litre and auto versions / Ronald Barker

CAR Magazine, September 1983

No Magazine Cover Yet

Newcomers : Delta on the wing

Supercharging experts Lancia turn to the turbo to give the Delta class winning speed

CCC Magazine, May 1986

CCC Magazine, May 1986

Tour de Fours

Group B rally homologation has led in no uncertain terms to the rapid evolution of a new breed of limited edition four-wheel drive supercars. The full rally specifications of Ford's svelte new RS200 and Lancia's boxy Delta S4 have already been well documented and frequently discussed in these pages, but how do these two new cars measure up on the road?

Performance Car, March 1988

Performance Car Magazine, March 1988

All-wheel drive club

Audi Quattro v Mazda 323 Turbo 4x4 v BMW 325iX v Lancia Delta HF Turbo 4WD v Ford Sierra XR4x4

Performance Car, April 1988

Performance Car Magazine, April 1988

Integrale on sale

Lancia's scorching Delta HF Integrale, rally-bred four-wheel-drive car has gone on sale in the UK with a £15,455 price tag.

Photos, brochures, adverts and magazine pages

Lancia Delta HF Turbo advert